National Museum of the American Indian (Douglas Cardinal design)

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian building on the National Mall, designed by architect Douglas Cardinal, opened in 2004 and is noted for its curvilinear, organic form. Its buff-colored limestone façade and flowing interior spaces were conceived to evoke natural rock formations and indigenous design traditions and to depart from conventional rectilinear museum architecture. The museum's collections and exhibitions document the histories, cultures, and contemporary lives of Native peoples of the Americas.